1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor wafer processing and, more particularly, to apparatuses and techniques for more efficiently applying fluid to the backside of the wafer to heat the wafer for efficiently processing the wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor chip fabrication process, it is well-known that there is a need to process wafers in the production of semiconductor devices. In such production operations, utilization of certain temperatures is often crucial for proper wafer production. Unfortunately, temperature control is often difficult to attain due to the configuration of the apparatus or chamber used for wafer processing. For example, in some instances, wafer heating may be conducted by heat lamps or wafer heating plates. Unfortunately heat lamps are difficult to use in high pressure processing environments due to problems with heat lamp degradation. In addition, outside heat lamps can shine heat into a wafer processing chamber through glass capable of transmitting heat. Unfortunately, in high pressure wafer processing environments, such outside heat lamps typically cannot be used due to the extremely thick glass that is often required to withstand the high pressures inside of the chamber. Wafer heating plates are often undesirable due to uneven heating of the wafer because of wafer and/or heating plate surface irregularities. Consequently, certain process conditions often make controlling the temperature within an apparatus or chamber difficult or even impossible with use of the prior art temperature control methods and apparatuses.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and an apparatus that avoids the prior art by enabling optimized wafer heating in a high pressure wafer processing conditions.